Joel (detail)

1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

Wearing an ash-blue tunic with pink reflections and a red mantle, Joel - the herald of terrible calamities on the earth and the darkening of the sun and the moon in the sky - is portrayed frontally, as he sits unwinding and reading a scroll. His intent face, framed by locks of white hair, and the pose of his body express energy, together with a degree of tension.